A Guide to the Adoption Process The most important requirements for adoption are that the adopter must be over 21 years of age, the child to be adopted must be under the age of 18 and joint applications to adopt can only be made by married couples and civil partners. Unmarried couples can...

Accessing Your Own Land Prior to the introduction of revised procedures (set out in regulations under Section 68 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 , which came into effect in July 2002), people who had to cross common land in order to reach their homes were sometimes...

Administering Estates - Procedures and Pitfalls A recent survey has shown that more than one in ten people who are thought to have died intestate (i.e. without leaving a will) may actually have made a will and that a similar number of those who leave a will which is initially believed to be the last will...

Are You a Sophisticated Investor? In March 2005, the rules relating to approaching people regarding financial promotions were relaxed so that so called ‘sophisticated investors’ and high net worth individuals (HNWIs) could be more easily approached with a view to making...

Asset Valuation Problems - Chattels When dealing with an estate, an increasing problem for executors is the valuation of assets in the form of the chattels of the deceased. In probate terminology, chattels are the ‘everyday’ assets such as furniture and ordinary possessions, as...

Bank of Mum and Dad Lending Issues Tthe 'bank of Mum and Dad' is unsurprisingly one of the leading sources of finance for house purchase – it was estimated that 317,000 mortgages were undertaken with parental assistance in 2018. The survey, sponsored by the Centre for Economics...

Business Assets and Divorce Divorce is seldom an easy business, but the problems are compounded when there is a family business involved. The division of the spoils has traditionally been the subject of a great deal of argument, but recent cases have at least clarified the thinking of...

Buying Abroad - Considerations More than 400,000 UK citizens own properties abroad. If you are thinking of joining them, here ar some of the main issues: as well as it being essential to take independent and high quality legal advice, there are several other considerations you should be...

Buying a House and Consumer Protection With the appointment of a Property Ombudsman , the laying down in statute of the duties of estate agents and the passing of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (CEARA), a property purchaser might reasonably conclude that their interests are...

CGT and Shares in Estates Valuation Trap In the UK, there are quite generous exemptions from Inheritance Tax (IHT) which apply to business assets. One problem with making use of such exemptions is the effect this may have on the subsequent value of the relevant assets for Capital Gains Tax (CGT)...

Changing Wills For Benefit A will expresses the final wishes of the deceased person and it is commonly thought that a will is irrevocable after death. However, provided everyone agrees, it is normally possible to vary a will provided that the application is made within two years of...

Charity Trustees - Guidance The regime governing charities has been progressively tightened up over the years, making the sort of scandals that were once not uncommon much more of a rarity. This means that trustees now have to adopt a more professional attitude to the management of a...

Child Custody Explained Arrangements over the custody of children (called residence arrangements by lawyers) after the breakdown of a relationship are usually best decided without the intervention of the court. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for the two parties to...

Child Maintenance Explained The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) – a statutory non-departmental public body – was established in 2008 to take on the work of the Child Support Agency. At the same time, the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 ...

Civil Partnerships And Same-Sex Marriage Explained The first civil partnerships were formed on 21 December 2005, after the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 came into effect on 5 December 2005. Same-sex marriages contracted abroad, however, have been recognised as valid civil partnerships from 5 December...

Cohabitation Agreements - Protection for Unmarried Couples One of the most common myths in English law is that there is such a thing as a ‘common law marriage’. It simply doesn’t exist and this misapprehension has led the Law Commission to suggest proposals giving additional rights to cohabiting...

Cohabitees and Death - Who Can Claim? When one member of a cohabiting couple dies, it can come as an unpleasant surprise to the bereaved partner to discover that not all of their late partner’s estate will pass to them in the absence of a will. It is only when this happens that many people...

Compensation for Loss of a Chance Most claims for damages are claims for damages or losses which have actually happened. For example, if a lorry mounted the pavement and smashed a garden wall, the claim would be for the cost of restoring the wall to its former condition. The law relating to...

Consumer Rights Law - Guidance Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Since 1 October 2015, under changes introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 , it has been compulsory for most businesses to offer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to...

Correcting Your Credit Rating Most people require credit at some time, whether it is in the form of a credit card, a loan or an overdraft. However careful you are, it is possible to find yourself blacklisted for credit purposes. When you apply for credit, the lender will apply to either...

Credit Card Purchases: Know Your Rights When you order something and pay using a credit card, you are protected against loss...or are you? Although many people think that the protection that applies is absolute, it is not. Unless your credit card contract specifies otherwise, your protection is...

Dealing With an Insolvent Estate One of the rules that applies to the administration of estates is that whilst a person appointed as executor under a will can refuse to accept the appointment, once an executor ‘intermeddles’ in the estate, in principle he or she cannot then...

Divorce and Foreign Nationality Approximately one in six marriages in the European Union is between persons of different nationalities. Not surprisingly, approximately one in six divorces also involves spouses of different nationalities. This can make for some complexity on divorce as to...

Divorce and Foreign Residence: Children When a marriage breaks up, it is usual for the couple to separate physically as well as legally and in some cases the physical separation can be considerable. With the increase in international travel and residence abroad, marriages between persons of...

Divorce and Money When it comes to dealing with money and divorce, it is important to know what has to be taken into account and the powers available to arrive at fair decisions. For most couples, the basic problem is how to finance two separate households from income and...

Divorce and the Company Director Divorce is almost never easy and the financial negotiations can be protracted and difficult, particularly when there are business interests involved. In this article we consider some of the issues surrounding divorce for company directors. In the first...

Divorce and the Family Home Family break-up is always complicated and when there is a property involved, things can get very complex indeed. In principle, when a couple are cohabiting (not married or in a civil partnership) the property belongs as of right to whoever is shown on the...

Enterprise Investment Schemes: EIS and SEIS Successive governments have recognised that the spirit of entrepreneurialism, though deeply ingrained in the UK’s culture, is not really very well supported by the financial institutions. In an attempt to provide more ready access to investment capital...

Estates - What Happens if Values Fall? One of the biggest problems now facing executors is that assets can fall in value as well as increase, which can mean that the value of an estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes is greater than the market value later on. Where assets are disposed of at...

Faulty Goods: Know Your Rights In the UK, customers have various rights in respect of faulty goods. The Sale & Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 were introduced in the UK on 31 March 2003. These also apply to 'non-retail' transactions, such as hire purchase sales. They...

Financial Settlements in Divorce: Factors The headline-grabbing decisions in a spate of ‘rich list’ divorce cases in 2007 confirmed that the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court) is emphasising that marriage is a partnership and that the relative contributions of...

Fiscal Help for your Student Children If you have children going away to university there are money saving options worth considering, if you are in a position to take advantage of them. The cost of accommodation is a financial burden for any student. If you can provide funds to buy a home near...

Funding Care in Later Life Under the changes proposed in the Care Act 2014, which received the Royal Assent in May 2014 and which came into effect in April 2016, the funding of elderly care has changed significantly. There is a factsheet available from the Government...

Guide to Law on Squatting in Residential Premises After carrying out an extensive consultation exercise, which closed in October 2011, squatting in residential properties has now become a criminal offence. Criminal squatting occurs when: a person knowingly enters a residential building as a...

Guide to Parental Responsibility The 1989 Children Act aimed to clarify the law regarding who could look after children. One of the main new concepts introduced by the Act was that of ‘Parental Responsibility’ (PR). This is the legal term which emphasises that the duty to...

HMRC Guidance on Tax Residence Following changes in the tax legislation governing the income tax payable by non-domiciliaries, and some relevant tax cases, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have updated their guidance on tax residence and domicile . This replaces the old guidance, which was...

Heir Hunters - Take Advice! Until the recent publicity afforded by television shows on the subject, many people might not have realised that ‘heir tracing’ companies exist, let alone that they research ‘promising’ estates by looking at public records and then...

Helping Your Executors Being an executor is a demanding job at the best of times and a task that is made all the more difficult when the deceased has not given proper thought to the problems their executors will face. Here are some of the things you can do to make sure your...

How Drawdown Lifetime Mortgages Work For people who have money tied up in their homes who wish to release capital for expenditure, or possibly to give to family members, the drawdown lifetime mortgage (DLM) is a possible vehicle. A DLM is simply a mortgage, but one which is drawn down over...

How Inheritance Tax Works Inheritance Tax (IHT) is paid on your estate when you die and also when money is transferred into some trust funds. Some other transfers during one’s lifetime may also be subject to IHT. The first £325,000 (2017/8 rates) of the estate is exempt...

How do I Leave Money to Charity in My Will? It's easy to include a charity in your will, but you should always consult your solicitor before you write or change your will to be sure it reflects your exact intentions and that you understand its implications. Before you call your adviser, take a...

IHT Nil Band for Residential Property Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Relief from IHT is available by way of a 'Residence Nil-Rate Band' for IHT where a person dies leaving their residence to a direct descendant, whcih means children (including...

IHT Planning and the AIM In recent years, Inheritance Tax (IHT) has affected more and more families, largely due to rising house prices. IHT is payable at 40 per cent on the net assets of an estate where these exceed £325,000 – the current 2017/8 nil-rate band. Investing...

Keeping Your Identity Safe With the practice of fraud by impersonation becoming ever more frequent, clients are advised to take precautions to prevent being taken for a ride by thieves. Sorting out the problems caused by impersonation fraud can be an arduous and stressful procedure....

Leaseholders' Right to Manage Since 2003 qualifying leaseholders have had the right to take over the management of their block of flats from their landlord, under provisions made under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 . Leaseholders who take advantage of this right have more...

Making Your Will - Guidance It is easy to keep putting off making a will. However, having a valid will is the only way to guarantee that your estate goes to who you want it to when you die. If a person dies having made a will, the distribution of their estate is normally...

Mortgage Exit Administration Charges - Consumer Redress When you ask for a redemption statement from your mortgage lender, it can come as an unpleasant surprise to see an additional charge termed ‘mortgage exit administration fee’ (MEAF), which, while it will be shown in the mortgage offer letter, is...

Neighbours From Hell: Local Authority Powers The Housing Act 2004 contains a variety of measures designed to protect householders from the ‘neighbour from hell’, through measures targeting private landlords who turn a blind eye to disruptive behaviour by their tenants. The Act includes...

Package Tour Problems and Travel Delay - Your Rights We often hear of problems associated with package tour holidays and customers' attempts to gain compensation. It is important, therefore, to know what is and what is not a package tour for the purposes of working out who is responsible if things go badly...

Pension Flexibility - Basics There has been a great deal of publicity about the forthcoming changes in the law relating to pensions and their uses. The changes are comprehensive and change the tax position significantly and also the uses which can be made of pension funds. With...

Pensions and Divorce Divorces among the over-60s are by no means infrequent and, whilst the potential for acrimony arising from issues concerning young children is absent, they often do produce a great deal of dispute regarding the division of the family assets. There...

Planning Law Basics Whether you are planning to refurbish and sell a house or to construct a whole new apartment block, almost all your plans will be governed by planning laws and any local restrictions. Planning restrictions are more stringent in conservation areas, for...

Post-Nuptial Agreements - the Basics Although divorce rates are in decline, more than 40 per cent of marriages end in divorce (in England and Wales more than 100,000 couples divorce annually) and when one in five of all men and women seeking to end their marriage have already been through one...

Pre-Nuptial Agreements: Wise Planning for the Wealthy Following a decision in the Supreme Court , in which a pre-nuptial agreement entered into by a German heiress and her husband was held to be enforceable, wealthy families worried about preserving family assets in the event of a divorce should certainly...

Putting Cash into a Family Business When younger members of a family start a business, they often ask other family members to provide part of the necessary capital. If you are approached to do this and are willing to provide funding, it is often difficult to know how best to provide the cash....

Relationship Break Up and Tax Getting divorced is never a pleasant experience and couples going through the process have a lot to think about. Whilst management of the tax consequences of the split is not normally at the top of their priority list, these can be considerable, even where...

Repossessions - the Duties of Mortgage Lenders When mortgage arrears are serious and/or there is a breach of the mortgage covenants, the lender will usually seek an order for repossession of the property. Once it has possession, it will normally sell it with vacant possession. If this course is taken, it...

SDLT on Mixed Use Property With Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) charged differently on residential and non-residential property, the disposal of a mixed-use property can lead to tax consequences that may affect the value you receive on sale. Recently, the Chartered Institute of...

Selling Your House and Land: Tax Tips Most people buy and sell the property they live in without any thoughts about tax (other than, perhaps, Stamp Duty Land Tax). However, there are some circumstances in which selling the property you live in can cause tax problems. Some of the main ones are: ...

Selling Your Property at Auction In recent years, increased mobility and growing rates of home ownership have meant that ever-larger numbers of people nowadays inherit properties from relatives who lived many miles away. Similarly, many buy-to-let properties have been purchased in areas...

Should I Buy To Let? Property prices have risen substantially for many years in the UK, with the occasional drop in values in times of recession. The long-term reliability of property investment (which, of course is not a guarantee of future price growth) plus the negligible...

Stamp Duty Land Tax and Second Homes - The Basics Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was brought in to replace the old ‘stamp duty’ and has been complex since its inception. Among the transactions subject to SDLT are property sales. Levied at a rate of 2 per cent on purchases between £125,000 and...

Taking Children into Care - The Legal Process We often hear of children being taken into care, but the process by which this occurs is not well known. The Children Act 1989 lays down the circumstances under which it is appropriate for a child to be taken into care or a supervision order made. The...

Tenants' Right to Buy The right of secure tenants to buy their homes was established under the Housing Act 1980 . The original rules have subsequently been amended, however, mainly owing to a growing number of abuses of the system. These mainly involved property speculators who...

The Process of Divorce Although divorce is a commonplace occurrence these days, few people going into their first divorce have much idea about how the process operates. Here is a brief guide. The process for dissolution of a civil partnership is essentially the same, as are the...

Timeshares - Good or Bad? Although there are millions of contented timeshare owners throughout the world, the timeshare industry has certainly had a chequered history. On the one hand there is the promise of golden weeks in the sun or on the slopes at a fraction of the cost of buying...

Treasure Trove - The Law There are countless stories of buried treasure, for example, the recent a huge find of Roman artefacts unearthed in London, but the public at large know little of the law relating to treasure trove and especially the law relating to items...

Unfair Contract Terms - Your Rights as a Consumer UK consumer protection legislation is robust, giving them substantial rights and imposing significant obligations on traders. Indeed, in some cases the actions of a vendor may be sufficient to constitute an ‘unfair commercial practice’ (UCP). UK...

Uninsured Drivers and Compensation Claims When accidents cause damage or injury and the responsible driver is uninsured, a claim can be made to the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), an organisation financed by motor insurers with the intention of compensating those who have been involved in...

Unlocking Your Equity - the Choices There is a bewildering variety of equity release schemes on the market and, judging by the letters pages of the financial press, they are not well understood. Releasing equity in a house can be an effective way of supplementing your income or releasing spare...

Warning for Holders of US Assets If you hold assets in the USA, you should be aware of an issue that has started to arise in estates in which there are US shareholdings, especially where these are managed by brokers in the US. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that any estate...

What Happens on Intestacy? The Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act came into force in late 2014. It changes intestacy law in England and Wales to allow a deceased's estate to pass to their widow, widower or civil partner absolutely where there are no children. The intestacy...

What is Taxable? With the Government seeing fit to make HM Revenue and Customs a payer of benefits (pension credit etc.) as well as a collector of taxes, it is no wonder that people are becoming confused as to which sources of income are taxable and which are not. It is...

What is a Lasting Power of Attorney? In October 2007 there was a fundamental change on the way in the way powers of attorney are created and the powers that they can give attorneys, when the Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) was replaced by the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). EPAs are no longer...

What is a Tenant's Improvement? The law allows any tenant (with some exceptions) who has lived in a property for more than three years under a lease of more than 20 years to apply to the Landlord to purchase the freehold. The purchase price is based on the open market value of the...

What is a Trust? A trust comes into effect when a ‘settlor’ places money, land or other assets in the hands of trustees. The trustees are the legal owners of the property but are obliged to hold and manage the property for the benefit of a person or a group of...

When Can I Access My Neighbour's Land? Disputes between neighbours can cause a lot of unpleasantness. If you need to deal with your neighbours over matters related to land or property it is always advisable to try to get things done in a friendly way, whilst at the same time making sure you know...

Who Can Go Where? In England and Wales, the law relating to access to land position is governed by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 . In England and Wales, the public have the right to access what is called 'access land' – which is mainly registered common...

Who is Under the Influence? The law recognises that some people (such as solicitors or accountants) have a high degree of influence over other people (their clients), since clients hire their professional advisers for the specific purpose of giving advice. However, it is not normally...